The present invention relates to a guide and cover arrangement for printers of the type having a body structure with a main body portion capable of accommodating a platen roller, a typing device and advance means adjacent to the roller for advancing individual and continuous forms, in which said arrangement comprises a transparent cover member for protecting the typing and printing zone, and a rear cover which is pivoted to the main body portion and which is capable of movement between two operating positions in which, in a first operating position, the rear cover is substantially parallel to and supported on the main body portion of the body structure and, in the second operating position, said rear cover is substantially inclined with respect to the main body portion of the body structure, and wherein said forms are capable of being supported on and guided by the rear cover in both the operating positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,035 discloses a guide and cover arrangement for printers of that type in which the rear cover comprises a guide plate which is movable from the first position in which it is in contact with the upper part of the body structure to the second position in which it is inclined with respect to the body structure and is held in the second position by a suitable frame. The transparent cover member is fixedly mounted on the front part of the body structure to cover the typing zone without interfering with the movement of the rear cover. That guide and cover arrangement suffers from various disadvantages, in particular the typing zone is not sufficiently covered and protected from any foreign bodies, printing is not silenced and in addition the forms which slide over the guide body in both positions are not adequately guided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,417 discloses another guide and cover arrangement for printers in which the body structure internally houses an automatic sheet feeder. To extract the feeder and render it operative, it is necessary to open the rear cover and then position the feeder in its operative position. That arrangement also involves disadvantages. In particular the printer is of substantial bulk, by virtue of having to accommodate the automatic feeder in its interior, and in addition the path involved in feed movement of the forms, when the feeder is not in operation and is positioned within the body structure, is complicated and can give rise to blockages in the feed movement of the forms themselves.